1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the packaging of oblong packs made of a malleable flexible material and sealed by a sealing device in order to hold a substance with a liquid to pasty consistency which is dispensed by finger pressure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Tubes of this kind were traditionally made of a malleable metal, such as aluminium. Nowadays, these tubes are often replaced by flexible thermoplastic tubes. Examples are toothpaste tubes, tubes for creams, gels and pastes in cosmetics and dermatology, tubes for food products, such as sauces or concentrated milks, or tubes for paints.
These tubes have a dispensing end including a neck defining a dispensing channel. The neck is provided with an external thread to receive a movable cap screwed on to the tube. However, these caps, generally of small dimensions, can be lost by the users and, in order to prevent this problem, it is proposed to replace the cap by a sealing device comprising a part adapted to be fixed to the neck of the tube, to which a movable part comprising the means for sealing the dispensing channel is hinged.
The mounting of an axially asymmetrical sealing device of this kind poses a problem of the adjustment of the sealing device relative to the body of the tube, as, in practice, the tube body always carries indicia, i.e. at least one inscription or drawing (trade mark, number, address, reference marking or the like) has been placed in at least one zone of the tube body. The sealing device must therefore be adjusted relative to the indicia of the body of the tube.
For packaging, the tubes are in the form of cylindrical sleeves ending at one end in the neck and open at their opposite ends. The tight sealing devices are mounted on the necks and the tubes are then turned upside down to be filled via their open bottoms. After filling, the bottoms are sealed tightly by squeezing the free ends of the tubes followed by heat sealing. In this operation, once again, it is necessary to monitor the position of the line along which squeezing is effected, as, after packaging, the tubes are flattened at their free ends so that they pass from their cylindrical shape to a shape substantially including an axial plane of symmetry. The tube body then comprises two areas substantially symmetrical relative to the axial plane of symmetry. In general, the mark of the product, the drawing or the graphics accompanying it and the name of the product appear on one of these areas, while the composition of the product and the accompanying information appear on the other area. The squeezing line is thus also adjusted relative to the indicia of the tube body.
A sealing device for a bottle is known from EP-B-7274, consisting, on the one hand, of an inner sealing capsule screwed on to the neck of the bottle and, on the other hand, of an outer cap integral with the capsule, both in translation by the cooperation of an outer peripheral bead of the capsule with an inner annular recess of the cap, and in rotation by the engagement of axial channels of the outer wall of the capsule in axial grooves of the inner wall of the cap, or vice versa. Means are provided for angularly positioning the cap relative to the bottle, as this sealing device is intended to be used on a bottle with a particular shape, so that it is desirable for the outer sides of the cap to be aligned with the outer sides of the bottle in order to form an aesthetically pleasing assembly. To this end, an area of excessive thickness forming a stop is disposed on the shoulder of the bottle between the neck and the body of the latter, and stop means are disposed in the lower part of the cap in the interior of the latter, the stop and the stop means comprising faces which are in contact with one another when the sealing device hermetically seals the bottle.
FR-A-2 541 654 also discloses a container provided at its upper end with a threaded neck to receive a sealing device consisting of a sealing capsule having an internal thread in order to cooperate by screwing with the neck, and an outer cap provided with an inner skirt integral in rotation and translation with the lateral skirt of the capsule, the container comprising a stop against which a stop member provided on the sealing device bears, so as to adjust the latter into the closed position relative to the container.
Therefore, in the two aforesaid cases, the angular positioning of the sealing device is effected by the cooperation of at least one element provided on the bottle at the neck or in the vicinity of the neck with at least one element provided on the sealing device.